Emergency room doctor sleeping in RV to keep his family healthy during COVID-19 pandemic

BURLINGTON, N.C. (WGHP) – A North Carolina emergency department physician is sleeping in an RV outside his home to keep his family safe.

Initially, Dr. Mark Quale, who works at Alamance Regional Medical Center in Burlington, began using tarps in his home to separate himself from his wife, two young children and mother-in-law.

Now he’s staying out of the home altogether.

“We just have to work with what we have right now, and this is an incredibly unique situation,” said LaRayne Quale, Mark’s wife. “It’s moment by moment for us, day by day went out the window along time ago, it is moment by moment.“

The Quales were one of the first families to be matched by RV’s 4 MD’s, the Facebook community matching families across the country with people willing to lend their RV’s to health care professionals amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“I tried reaching out to different companies and the cost of the rental for the duration that we were going to need was just too much,” LaRayne explained.

Her sister connected her with the group and the family was matched with Tim and Kelsey Webb just outside of Morganton.

“Why not help somebody else that is out helping so many others right now and putting themselves, their families at risk?” Kelsey Webb said.

The Quales greeted Tim Webb Monday when he delivered the RV to their driveway.

“I know it’s benefit them, but I don’t think they will ever realize how much it’s benefited us on so many different levels,” LaRayne said.

The distance between the camper and the house isn’t far, but LaRayne said her family is adjusting to the change.

“If he had to go stay in a hotel or somewhere else that’s something that was unbearable for me because I couldn’t check on him and make sure that he was going to be OK,” she said. “Having him here I can at least say, ‘OK, come to the window, I need to see your face.’”

LaRayne is now helping other families get matched with people willing to provide campers across the country.